by Rick Polad
“Well, just trying to make him comfortable while he’s here.”
“Yes, and perhaps trying to influence me?”
I spread my hands, palms up, and smiled. “Hey, I do what I can. But it’s all for a good cause.”
“Yes. But I do have my job to do. Usually that job is rewarding, placing dogs with people who need them. This case obviously isn’t typical.”
“No, it isn’t. But we did get him away from someone who was abusing him. That has to be worth something.”
“That’s worth a lot, Mr. Manning. And if he wasn’t a trained working dog, this wouldn’t be an issue. There are lots of dogs out there that need good homes.”
“I understand. But I’m not sure Billy will.”
“Yes, that makes this harder, and easier.”
“Pardon?”
He leaned back in his chair. “I had a chat with your friend Mooneen about our guidelines for working dogs. One of them is age. We train dogs when they’re a year old. After that they just don’t learn as well. So, Spot is obviously too old to get into the program now. But since he’s already been trained that isn’t an issue.”
“So, what is the issue?”
“There’s another age stipulation. We don’t want to change owners after the age of four. We’ve found an older dog isn’t able to adjust to a new owner as well.”
My hopes rose. “And how old is Spot?”
“Three and a half.”
I was sure my face showed my disappointment. “Well, could we wait six months?”
He laughed. “No. But I talked to people in my office, and we decided that the extenuating circumstances were worth six months.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying the criteria here today was to decide if you all would give Spot a good home.”
“And?”
“And you made it easy. Looks like he already has a good home. Hard to beat a boy who loves a dog. Where do the boy and his mother live?”
“They have an apartment right across the street.”
“And there are no issues with the apartment? I know a lot of landlords don’t allow pets.”
“Nope. No issues with that.”
“Well then, I see no problem with the little boy getting his dog. We’ll just have to do the paperwork.”
“I do have one issue.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Do you have any rules about us renaming Spot?”
He laughed. “I wish you would.”
I got up. “Okay, we’re good. Let’s go tell Billy.”
Billy still had his arm around Spot. I was glad I didn’t have to watch him say goodbye.
“Billy, Mr. Gillery has something to tell you,” I said. He looked very sad, and I could tell he was trying hard to hold back the tears.
Mr. Gillery knelt and patted Spot on the head. “I can tell you love this dog, Billy.”
Billy nodded slowly.
“Would you take good care of him?”
Billy’s eyes opened wide. “I sure would!”
“There’s a lot to do, Billy. There’s walking and picking up and feeding. There’s a lot more than just playing with him.”
I looked at Carol. She had a huge smile.
“I know that, sir. I’d take good care of him.”
“Well then, Billy, I know you’ll enjoy your new dog.”
Now the tears fell, but they weren’t from the sad face Billy had a few minutes ago. Mr. Gillery talked to Carol and me about paperwork, the first of which she filled out right then. He told us Spot could stay, but it would take a month or so to get all the paperwork done. After he left, Carol gave me a long hug.
“I can’t tell you how much this means, Spencer. Thanks so much. But there’s a problem you haven’t thought about.”
“And what would that be?” I asked with a smile.
“Our building doesn’t allow pets.”
“I have thought about that. I think you should move to a building that does.”
“Oh sure, I’ll just run out now and find a place. This one was hard enough to get even without pets. It’s close to Billy’s school and—”
“Whoa. Would you consider moving across the street?”
She looked confused. “Across the street? This building is across the street.”
“It is.”
“First, we looked here, and not only do they not allow pets, but it was more expensive. And second, there aren’t any vacancies.”
“You’re forgetting about the apartment I have.”
“Okay, assuming you were willing to sublease that, there’s still the pet problem.”
I smiled. “Is that all you do? Think of problems?”
“Just facing reality, Spencer.”
“Well, that may not be a problem.”
“How could that not be a problem? I can’t hide a dog.”
“No, but the new owner allows pets.”
“New owner? Who…?” She figured out my smile. “You didn’t.”
“I did, and I’m giving you a raise and reducing the rent. You’ll have a bigger apartment, and you won’t have to walk across the street to get to work. It’s going to take a bit of time to get all this done, so in the meantime Spot can stay with me.”
She wouldn’t stop thanking me.
“There is one thing,” I said. “Billy needs to find a new name for Spot.”
We both watched Billy hugging Spot.
“Well, Spencer, we already talked about that. We decided if Billy got him his name should be something that would be fitting for you since you made all this happen.”
I was sure my surprise showed. “I’m honored, Carol, but it should also be something Billy likes.”
She smiled. “Oh, it is.”
“So you decided?”
“He did.” She held out her arm toward Billy. “Spencer, meet… Watson.”
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Acknowledgements
This book would not exist without the help and support of several special people. To my first readers and friends, Mike Polad, Carol Deleskiewicz, Gary Lindberg, Ellen Tullar Purviance, and John Zelman. Thanks for your edits and input. Any remaining errors are the property of the author. And, as before, to all my friends and readers who have asked for more Spencer, my undying thanks.
About the Author
Rick Polad teaches Earth Science, plays jazz trumpet, and volunteers with the Coast Guard on Lake Michigan. For over a decade, Rick has given editorial assistance to award-winning photographer Bruce Roberts and historian/author Cheryl Shelton-Roberts on several of their maritime-themed publications including North Carolina Lighthouses: Stories of History and Hope, and the third edition of American Lighthouses: A Comprehensive Guide to Exploring Our National Coastal Treasures. Rick also edited the English version of Living With Nuclei, the memoirs of Japanese physicist, Motoharu Kimura.
